No. 113.3
SOUTHEASTERN GREENE
SCHOOL DISTRICT
SECTION: PROGRAMS
TITLE:
SCREENING AND
EVALUATIONS FOR STUDENTS
WITH DISABILITIES
ADOPTED: March 22, 2011
113.3 Screening and Evaluations for Students with Disabilities
1. Purpose
Title 22
Sec. 14.122
14.123
14.124
14.125
14.133
20 U.S.C.
Sec. 1414
34 CFR
Sec. 300.226
300.301300.311
300.502
300.530
Pol. 113, 113.2
The Board adopts this policy to define the minimum requirements for screening;
educational evaluations conducted to determine eligibility for special education
services, instructional levels and programming requirements for students with
disabilities, including functional behavioral assessments; and requirements for
independent educational evaluations.
2. Authority
Title 22
Sec. 14122
34 CFR
Sec. 300.226
Pol. 209
The Board shall adopt a system of screening that may include early intervening
services and must be designed to accomplish identification and initial screening for
students prior to district referral for a special education evaluation. The system
shall provide support to staff to improve working effectively with students in the
general education curriculum, identify students who may require special education
services and programs, and must include hearing and vision screening and screening
at reasonable intervals to determine whether students are performing at grade
appropriate levels in core academic subjects.
34 CFR
Sec. 300.226
Early intervening services shall comply with the requirements of state and federal
law and regulations in order to address academic concerns or behaviors that may be
impeding success, but which can be resolved through research-based intervention
Page 1 of 6
Title 22
Sec. 14.133
34 CFR
Sec. 300.530
Pol. 113, 113.1,
113.2,
programs in the regular education setting.
The Board authorizes the use of functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) as an
evaluation to gather information to understand the purpose of the student’s behaviors
and to assist with developing a positive Behavior Support Plan. FBAs must be
conducted when:
1.
A student’s behavior interferes with his/her learning or the
learning of others and information is necessary to provide appropriate
educational planning.
2.
A student’s behavior violates the Code of Student Conduct
and is determined to be a manifestation of a student’s disability.
3.
A student is placed in a interim alternative educational
placement for a qualifying reason permitting such placement for up to fortyfive (45) school days for certain offenses.
4.
The school contacts law enforcement regarding a student who
already has a positive Behavior Support Plan.
FBAs may also constitute part of the initial evaluation to determine eligibility for
special education.
Title 22
Sec. 14.123
20 U.S.C.
Sec. 1414
34 CRF
Sec. 300.100300.311, 300.352
The district shall comply with requirements of state and federal laws and regulations
when conducting evaluations.
An appropriate evaluation of a student, whether conducted by district staff or
individuals not employed by the district, shall consist of the administration of all
testing and the use of all assessment procedures required to determine the existence
of all legally defined disabilities reasonably suspected by district staff,
parents/guardians, or the evaluator. An appropriate evaluation shall assist in
determining the content of the IEP to enable a student with a disability to be
involved in and progress in the general curriculum.
A student shall be assessed in all areas related to the suspected disability including,
as appropriate, health, vision, hearing, social and emotional status, general
intelligence, academic performance, communicative status and motor abilities.
Title 22
Sec. 14.124
20 U.S.C.
Sec. 1414
34 CRF
Sec. 300.303300.306
A reevaluation of a student who currently has an IEP shall be conducted as required
b state and federal law and regulations.
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3. Guidelines
Parent/Guardian Requests
Title 22
Sec. 14.122,
14.123
Parents/Guardians may request an evaluation at any time. The parent/guardian
request must be in writing. If a request is made orally to any professional employee
or administrator, that individual shall provide a copy of the permission to evaluate
from to the parents/guardians with ten (10) calendar days of the oral request.
The evaluation shall be completed and a copy of the evaluation report presented to
parents/guardians no later than sixty (60) calendar days after receipt of written
parent/guardian consent for an evaluation, exclusive of the period following the last
day of the spring school term to the first day of the subsequent fall term.
Title 22
Sec. 14.123
20 U.S.C.
Sec. 1414
34 CRF
Sec. 300.301300.311, 300.502
Appropriate Evaluations
An appropriate evaluation shall use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to
gather relevant functional, developmental and academic information about a student.
An appropriate evaluation shall include:
1.
Testing and assessment techniques required in light of
information currently available from previous evaluations.
2.
Information from parents/guardians and school staff familiar
with the performance of the student.
3.
The student’s education records.
The evaluator shall review all such sources of information prior to conducting
testing and assessment. The evaluator shall review assessments conducted by others
that indicate how the student is responding to early intervening services and
scientific research-based instruction and/or include assessments as part of his/her
evaluation.
To the extent that the results of such instructional assessment are inconsistent with
the results of norm or criterion-referenced testing and assessments that the evaluator
has administered, the evaluator shall explain the reason for the inconsistency in
his/her report, if possible.
Title 22
Sec. 14.125
34 CFR
Sec. 300.307-300.311
When assessing the presence of a specific learning disability, the evaluation shall be
consistent with procedures adopted by the district and comply with state and federal
law and regulations.
Testing and assessment procedures shall be selected and administered to yield valid
measurement or assessment of the construct or quality they purport to measure or
assess. The evaluator shall administer any testing or assessment procedures in a
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manner consistent with the requirements and recommendations of the publisher of
the test or procedure and in compliance with applicable and authoritatively
recognized professional principles and ethical tenets. S/He shall report any factor
that might affect the validity of any results obtained.
All assessments and evaluation materials shall be selected and administered so as not
to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis. Where feasible, assessments and
evaluations shall be administered in a language and form most likely to provide
accurate information about the student.
The evaluation shall include an observation of the student in an educational setting,
unless the student is not currently in such a setting. The evaluator shall obtain
information concerning the performance of the student directly from at least one (1)
current teacher of the student, unless s/he does not have a current teacher.
The evaluator shall hold an active certification that qualifies the evaluator to conduct
that type of evaluation. If certification is not issued for that particular area of
professional practice in which the evaluator is lawfully engaged, the evaluator shall
hold such license or other credentials as required for the area of professional practice
under state law.
The evaluator shall prepare and sign a full report of the evaluation containing:
Clear explanation of the testing and assessment results.
Complete summary of all test scores, including, for all standardized testing
administered, all applicable full scale or battery scores; domain or composite scores;
and subtest scores reported in standard, scaled, or T-score format.
Complete summary of all information obtained or reviewed from sources other than
testing conducted by the evaluator.
Specific recommendations for educational programming and placement, if possible.
REEVALUATIONS
Title 22
Sec. 14.124
34 CFR
Sec. 300.302
Reevaluations shall be conducted within the timeframes required by state and federal
laws and regulations unless the parent/guardian and the district agree in writing that
a reevaluation is unnecessary. The group of qualified professionals that reviews the
evaluation materials to determine whether the child is a student with a disability
shall include a certified school psychologist when evaluating a student for autism,
emotional disturbance, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, other health
impairment, specific learning disability, and traumatic brain injury.
Copies of the reevaluation report shall be disseminated to parents/guardians at least
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ten (10) days prior to the meeting of the IEP team unless requirement is waived in
writing.
34 CFR Sec. 300.502
INDEPENDENT EDUCATIONAL EVALUATIONS
A parent/guardian who disagrees with the results or content of an evaluation
performed or obtained by the district may request an independent educational
evaluation at district expense. A parent/guardian is entitled to only one (1)
independent educational evaluation at public expense each time the district conducts
an evaluation with which the parent/guardian disagrees. The independent
educational evaluation must arise from parents’/guardians’ disagreement with the
district’s most recent evaluations or revaluations of the student. The district shall be
entitled to a copy of all results of independent educational evaluations conducted at
public expense. If an oral request for an independent educational evaluation is made
to a professional employee or administrator, that person shall inform the
parent/guardian that the request must be in writing. If the native language of the
parent/guardian is other than English, the requirement that the parent/guardian make
his/her request in writing shall be conveyed by whatever means practicable and,
where feasible, in the native language of the parent/guardian.
A written request for an independent educational evaluation at district expense shall
be immediate forwarded to the building principal, who may, upon receipt of the
written parent/guardian request, ask that the parent/guardian state his/her reasons for
disagreement with the evaluation conducted or proposed by the district. The district
cannot require the parent/guardian to do so, and the refusal of the parent/guardian
shall not delay the process required by this policy.
The criteria under which the independent educational evaluation at public expense is
obtained must be the same as the criteria used by the district in conducting an
appropriate evaluation, including the location of the evaluation and the qualifications
of the examiner, to the extent those criteria are consistent with the
parent’s/guardian’s right to an independent educational evaluation at public expense.
The qualified examiners who conduct the independent educational evaluation may
not be employed by the public agency responsible for the education of the student.
Within ten (10) school days of receipt of a request for an independent educational
evaluation in writing from a parent/guardian, the building principal shall either
initiate a due process hearing to show that the district’s evaluation is appropriate and
notify the parent/guardian in writing that s/he has done so or issue to the
parent/guardian correspondence containing:
1.
Assurance that the district will pay for an independent
educational evaluation as long as the evaluation meets all of the requirements
of an appropriate evaluation and is in compliance with this policy.
2.
Statement that the district will not pay for the evaluation until
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it receives directly from the evaluator a complete copy of a report of that
evaluation and determines that the evaluation is in compliance with this
policy.
3.
Request that the parents/guardians consider accessing
reimbursement for all or part of the evaluation from public or private sources
of insurance or reimbursement, together with a clear assurance that the
parent/guardian is not required to do so and that the district will pay any cost
not covered by such sources.
4.
Directions that the parent/guardian is responsible for
arranging for the evaluation and ensuring that the evaluator contacts the
Building Principal to arrange for payment of the evaluation.
Upon request, the district shall provide to parents/guardians information about where
an independent educational evaluation may be obtained.
If the evaluation has already been conducted and paid for, the district shall issue
correspondence advising the parent/guardian that the district will not reimburse the
parent/guardian for the evaluation until it receives a complete and unredacted copy
of the report of the evaluation and determines that the evaluation is in compliance
with this policy. The district shall require documentation substantiating that the
parents/guardians paid for or incurred the obligation to pay for the evaluation
without reimbursement from a public or private source of insurance or
reimbursement.
The Building Principal shall send correspondence to the parent/guardian by certified
mail or by other independently verifiable means of conveyance and enclose a copy
of this policy.
The Building Principal shall maintain a list of qualified independent evaluators in
each of the various disciplines commonly relied upon to provide education-related
evaluations and assessments and shall promptly make that list available to any
parent/guardian who requests it.
References:
State Board of Education Regulations—22PACode Sec. 14.122, 14.123, 14.124,
14.125, 14.133
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq
Individuals with Disabilities Act—Title 34, Code of Federal Regulations—34 DVR
Part 300
Board Policy—113,113.1,113.2,209
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